The fading Philadelphia 76ers will try to win for the second time in five games this evening, when they host Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers at the Wachovia Center. Bryant will be returning to the scene of his successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion.

The 76ers once again couldn't defend the perimeter on Sunday evening, as they allowed the Toronto Raptors to hit a league-record 21 three-pointers en route to a 128-110 drubbing at Air Canada Centre.

Toronto forward Donyell Marshall stood uncontested seemingly all night, as he drained an NBA-record 12 treys in the contest. The Sixers couldn't rotate quickly enough to defend Marshall properly.

Philadelphia had five players in double figures in scoring in the contest, but it wasn't nearly enough. Allen Iverson led the way with 32 points and eight assists, but also committed five turnovers.

Chris Webber added 19 points, Kyle Korver chipped in 15 points and seven assists, Marc Jackson posted 12 points and eight rebounds, and Samuel Dalembert tacked on 10 points. Dalembert got into foul trouble early in the contest, basically keeping him out of the contest for most of the first half.

The Sixers nailed 51.6 percent of their field goal attempts, but allowed Toronto to shoot 49.5 percent, including 21-of-34 (.618) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Philadelphia drained 10-of-25 (.400) from three-point range in the loss.

Philadelphia's downfall came in the form of 16 turnovers and awful perimeter defense. The Sixers were also outrebounded, 45-41, in the losing effort.

The Sixers have slipped 4 1/2 games behind first place Boston in the Atlantic Division. Philadelphia is still only 1 1/2 contests back of Indiana and Orlando for the seventh and eighth slots in the East.

Philadelphia, which has won two of its last three home games, is 17-13 within its friendly confines. The Sixers have four of their next five contests at the Wachovia Center.

Los Angeles enters off its first loss in three games, as it fell 95-81 to the Washington Wizards at the MCI Center on Monday night. The Lakers dropped to 2-1 on their current six-game road swing and 11-18 in foreign buildings for the year.

Caron Butler paced the Lakers with 20 points and 11 boards. Bryant added 18 points and six assists, but shot just 6-of-22 from the floor. Chucky Atkins had 15 points in the loss.

Lamar Odom contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles. The Lakers shot only 35 percent from the field and were 10-of-34 from beyond the arc.

The Lakers are currently tied with Denver for the final playoff spot in the West. Los Angeles trails seventh place Memphis by 3 1/2 games and leads 10th place Minnesota by just one contest.

These teams split a pair of meetings last season. The Lakers have won six of the last 10 meetings in this series. However, Los Angeles has dropped four straight and six of its last seven trips to Philadelphia.